(indieWIRE/ 9.19.00) — Amidst Lions Gate‘s recent buying frenzy at theToronto International Film Festival, word spread this weekend that thecompany is shutting down its New York City operations. A number of peopleapproached indieWIRE over the weekend asking about the fate of the company,even as it made offers on a number of Festival films.

In a conversation with indieWIRE yesterday, Lions Gate ReleasingCo-President Tom Ortenberg indicated that Lions Gate Entertainment ViceChairman & CEO John Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns areindeed concentrating senior management in Los Angeles, but assured thatit is “business as usual at the company.” Explaining that it “wouldn’tbe fair” to employees to discuss the situation in depth before detailsare discussed internally, he added that there “will be some movement,”but said that he could not discuss “how and when.”

The move is consistent with Lions Gate’s recent strategy. As indicated inThe Hollywood Reporter two weeks ago, the company is pursuing a path that isproving successful in rebounding its stock price. Lions Gate recentlyannounced the acquisition of Trimark (a deal that is about to closeaccording to Ortenberg) and it also secured $200 million in financing.

Indeed the company was active in Toronto. In the conversation withindieWIRE, Lions Gate’s Ortenberg indicated, ” We actually saw quite a fewfilms in Toronto that we like,very good films and viable films commerciallyspeaking.”

Continuing, Ortenberg added, “We think that ‘Weight of the Water‘ will bethe scoop of the Festival,” referring to the Kathryn Bigelow project thatdebuted at the Festival. “We were pleased and stunned that it wasn’t moresought after.”

During the Festival, Lions Gate also announced deals for “Amores Perros” and“Vulgar.” The company is also pursuing “Chasing Sleep,” but a deal has yetto close. Ortenberg teased that other deals, outside of the Torontofestival, are on tap and will be announced soon.

Lions Gate, according to Ortenberg, intends to release 15 – 18 films nextyear — a mixture of “smaller art-house films” and also a handful oflarger-budgeted movies.

“While acquisitions will be an increasing part of what we do,” saidOrtenberg, “That will now be more balanced by a production slate.”

Bryan Johnson’s “Vulgar,” a film which polarized audiences, actuallyinspired a number of people to walk out of screenings, putting thecompany again in the position of releasing controversial movies.Lions Gate has not shied away from controversy with its releases,recently embracing Mary Harron‘s “American Psycho” and Kevin Smith‘s “Dogma.”

“We don’t invite (controversy), but we are not going to run away from it,”Ortenberg told indieWIRE. “To run away is doing an injustice.” Continuing,the executive added, “There is nothing fun about safe, if we were allconcerned about safe, I don’t know about how many of us would be doingwhat we are doing.” [Eugene Hernandez]

>> Another Dotcom Death as Pseudo.com Closes

(indieWIRE/ 9.19.00) — Pseudo.com, the alternative webcasting network, shut down yesterday, joining the list of recent dotcom failures. Founded in 1994, the site was a home for niche web content, including cable-access style shows focusing on Hip Hop, gaming, sex and fashion. For a time the site even featured an indie film program, dubbed FilmBytes, which included episodes created with indieWIRE.

Pseudo had a staff of 175, according to Inside.com. The publicationreported that Pseudo sent the entire staff home yesterday afternoon afterfailing to reach a financing deal to keep the doors open. According toInside, the site was burning through $2 million per month.

The news is yet another blow for high-profile web efforts aimed atentertainment and webcasting. While the news follows the recent demise ofthe unlaunched Pop.com, Pseudo’s death mimics that of DEN, which recently failed amid high costs and legal troubles for its top management.[Eugene Hernandez]